Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-10-29

the military order about abstinence
dipped the end of a stick he had ia his
hi nd into the caniied liquid and rs.
yellow, and brown, n tempting. it
glowed on the end of the stick he put
it To his mouth and ate the hOne,.
Judgment tell upon him, and but for
special Intervention he would have been
slain. In my text Jonath,n anD0nnc.
es his awful mistake: IL did but taste
a little honey with the end OF the rod
that was in my hand. and, lo. | must
die" Alas, what multtudcs Of people
Of all ages have been damaged by for
hidden honey. by which mean tempta-
ton, delicious and attractive but DAM
aging and destructive.
Literature, fascinating but beautiful.
comes 10 this category. Where one
good, honest, healthful book is read
now there are one hundred made up
Of rhetorical trash consumed with ovid
it,. When the boy or the ears comes
through with ~ pile of publications
look over the titles md notice that
nine out of ten of the books are deplet-
ing and Injurious. All the way from
New York to Chicago or New Orleans
notice hat objection able books DOM
mate. Taste for pure literature is poi
soned by this scum "f the publishing
house. Every book in which sin tri-
umphs over virtue, or in which "A
glamour is thrown o er dissipation, or
which leaves YOU at it's last lice with
less respect for the marriage insiitu-
tion and less abhorrenc- for the para
mpur, i, a depr. ssion of your
OWN MORAL CHARACTERS.
The book binding ma be attractive,
and the plot dramatic and startling.
and the style of writing as sweet as the
honey thai Jonathan dippet up with
his rod, but your best interests 'orbin
it, your moral safety fornids it, your
God forbids it, and one taste Of il may
lead to such bad results that you may
have to say at the close o. the expert
ment or at the close of a m~isimprov.d
lifetime. II did but taste a little honey
with the rod that was in my hand, and.
10, | must die"
Corrupt literature is doing more to-
day for the disruption Of domestic life
than any other cause. Elopements,
marital intrigues, sly correspondence.
fictitious names given at p~ostofice win
dows, clandesline meetings in parks.
and at ferry gates. and in hotel parlors
and conjugal p~erjuries are among the
damnable results. When a woman,
young or old, gets her head thoroughly
stuffed with the modern novel she is in
appalling peril. But some one will
say: "The heroes are 80 adroitl,
knavish, and the persons 81 bcwitch-
ingly untrue, and the turn of the story
so exquisite, and all the characters SO
enrapturing, l cannot quit them" NJ
brother, my sister, you can find sly lies
of literature just as charming that
WILL ELEVATE
and purify, and ennoble, and Chris
tiauIze while they please. The devil
does not own all the honey. There is
a 7ealth of good books coming forth
from our publishing houses that leaves
no excuse fol the choice of that which
is d~.bauchlpg to body. mind and soul.
Gu to some intelligent man or woman.
and ask for a list of books >hat will be
Strengthening to your mental and
mo, al condition. Life ia so short and
your time for Improvement 80 abbrevi-
ated that you cannot afford to fill up
with husks. and cinders. and debris.
In the interstices OF business that young
man is reading that which will prepare
h,m to be a merchant prince, and that
Young woman is filling her mind with
al intelligence that will yet either
make her tine chief attraction OF "A good
mans home or give her IN indep-n-
aence of character that will qualif, her
t. build her own home and maintain it
IN a happiness that requires 10 aug
mentation from any IF the rougher
sex. That young man or young wo-
man a by the
RIGHT LITERARY
and moral Improvement Of the spare
ten minutes here or there in every day,
rise head and shoulders in prosperity,
and character, and influence above the
| ,ungers who read nothing or read that
which b.dwarfs. See all the forests of
good American lit. atu dripping
with honey. Why pick up the honey
combs that have in them the fiery bees
which will sting you with an eternal
poison while you taste ite One book
may for you or me decide everything
for this world or the next. 1t was
a turning point with me when in Wynn
koop's bookstore, Syracuse, one day !
picked up n book called ..The Beauties
If Ruskip." 1t was only a book of
extracts but it was all pure honey, and
l was no. satisfied until l had pur-
chased all his works, at that time e
pensive beyond an easy capacity 10
own them. and what a heaven I went
through in reading his Seven Lamps
of Architecture" and his ..S,obes of
Venice" it is impossible for me to de-
scribe except by say ing that it gave me
a rapture for good books, and AT ever
lasting disgust ( r decrepit or immoral
hooks that will last me while my i'm
mo, tai soul lasts. All around the
church and the world to-day there are
busy hives of intelligence occupied 10y
authors and a~u'huresses from WHOSE
pens drip n disiiIl alton which is the
VI nv nectar OF heaven, ana why will
YOU thrust ,onr rod If inqui-i,ivene.s